Application of Ionic Liquids in Drug Delivery

This book presents recent advances in the use of ionic liquids in medicine and pharmaceutics with particular emphasis on addressing critical pharmaceutical challenges, including the low solubility, polymorphism, and bioavailability of drugs. It also provides insights into the development of the biologically functionalized ionic liquids suitable for medical and pharmaceutical applications. Ionic liquids have been used as potential solvents or materials in the fields of pharmaceutical drug delivery and formulations because of their unique and tunable physicochemical and biological properties. Readers find explanations of the diverse approaches to the application of ionic liquids in drug solubility, active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) formulation, and drug delivery systems, such as topical, transdermal, and oral delivery, with particular emphasis on recent developments. Particular attention is given to the development of ionic liquid-assisted effective drug delivery techniques for sparingly soluble or insoluble drug molecules. This book also discusses the biological activities of ionic liquids for possible applications in drug formulation and drug delivery systems. Scientists in disciplines such as chemistry, biology, and pharmaceutics find this book instructive and informative for developing ionic liquid-based drug formulations or drug delivery systems.

About the Author

Masahiro Goto is a professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry at the Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University, Japan, and is also the director of the Center for Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems (TDDS) at the same university. His current research interest is surfactant-based technology, and he has been working on pharmaceutical applications of ionic liquids, transdermal vaccines, and drug delivery systems using surfactant molecules. He has published 16 books, 116 review articles, and more than 500 papers in scientific journals. He is now the editor in chief of the Biochemical Engineering Journal.

Muhammad Moniruzzaman is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia. His  current research interests cover the areas of utilizing  ionic liquids as potential  solvents and/or (co)solvents and/or reagents in a wide range of applications including  biocatalysis, bioactive compound separation, biopolymer processing, surfactant technology and pharmaceutics including drug delivery and formulations. He has published about 180 research articles and 20 review articles in various international scientific journals. He also published 15 book chapters with multiple well-known publishers.  Currently, he is the editorial board member of the Biochemical Engineering Journal.